WRTA predicts bus service will get faster

The Worcester Regional Transit Authority is gearing up for what officials promise will be vast improvements to bus service starting Aug. 24.

The WRTA board met Thursday and reiterated that the pending changes will help make buses run on time.

At its July meeting, the authority reported that about 50 percent of trips were late during the last week of June. The board scolded the authority for the delays, which Chairman William J. Lehtola of Spencer said were "totally unacceptable."

Those problems began after June 1, when the bus system shifted operations about three blocks from City Hall to the hub, a $16.3 million bus facility next to Union Station.

A major change Aug. 24 will be a cut to service on bus Route 2, which goes from the hub to Tatnuck Square via Pleasant Street. The service for that route will drop from once every 30 minutes to once per hour — but will now include the Worcester Regional Airport and Sunny Hill Drive on each run rather than going to those destinations once every two hours.

At the Thursday meeting, a representative from Proterra, the company that is selling six new electric buses to the authority, made a short presentation.

One bus has been delivered, with two to follow next week and the other three to come in September. They will be added to the fleet in the fall, said administrator Stephen F. O'Neil.

The authority also voted to add service in Paxton, bringing the total communities served to 36, Mr. O'Neil said.

Details of service in Paxton will be decided over the next several months, he said.

Additional information on the schedule changes is available at the WRTA website, www.therta.com.

Contact Alli Knothe at aknothe@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @KnotheA